


Breathe Shadows

by wednesday



Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Choking, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22772773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesday/pseuds/wednesday
Summary: The beast lunges, and he knows he’s not going to completely avoid those claws. He braces for the pain. Then in a swirl of black smoke the thing gets thrown sideways mid-leap.
Relationships: Geoffrey McCullum/Jonathan Reid
Comments: 11
Kudos: 139
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Breathe Shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [linndechir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/linndechir/gifts).



Geoffrey has just enough time to reload before the sewer beast jumps at him again. He really hates these things. Nothing that huge should be so fast. 

The beast lunges, and he knows he’s not going to completely avoid those claws. He braces for the pain. Then in a swirl of black smoke the thing gets thrown sideways mid-leap. It howls as another leech, the fancy kind, shows up out of thin air and claws at its throat. These things he hates even more than the beasts, but he knows his chances are going to be better if he lets the creatures kill each other, so he waits. 

The night is dark enough that he could easily slink off unseen, if he weren’t fighting things that can smell his blood. 

The beast is giving the leech some trouble right up until the leech manages to sink its fangs into the monster. It howls again and throws the leech off. Looks like the blood’s enough to turn the fight in the Ekon’s favour, though. Even knowing how these creatures work, it’s terrifying to see how much stronger and faster a leech gets after a few mouthfuls of blood. 

And the damn leech powers show up. The beast tries to lunge at the Ekon again and is stopped by shadowy tendrils that lift it in the air and give the Ekon an opening to claw at its throat. 

For a moment Geoffrey watches the creature struggle transfixed, but when the beast falls on the ground unmoving, he takes aim and fires. The bolt goes wide and lodges in the Ekon’s shoulder. Geoffrey barely has time to swear before the leech turns to him and with another smoke jump is suddenly in his face. 

He’s too slow to dodge, or maybe the leech is faster than normal. There’s a hand on his throat and his back is against the wall. The leech lifts him up until his toes are barely touching the ground, rips the crossbow out of his hand and throws it to the side. Geoffrey hears it clatter on the cobblestones a fair distance away. 

He claws at the hand holding him up even though he knows better. 

The leech leans even closer, its face inches away before Geoffrey finally notices the familiarity of that face. 

“Fuck, Reid, let me–” 

Reid tightens his grip until Geoffrey falls silent, struggling for air. 

“Could I advise, just as a suggestion, _not shooting at me_?” Reid sounds about as pissed off as it’s possible to get. His eyes are as wild as any beast’s, his bared fangs long and sharp. There’s a smear of red on the corner of his mouth. He looks more monstrous than Geoffrey’s ever seen him. It clashes horribly with how eerily put together he is otherwise, clothes as posh and spotless as always, even after fighting a damn sewer beast. 

“Do– do you ever talk like a normal person?” Geoffrey forces out when Reid’s grip lets up enough, and immediately regrets it. Reid’s fingers press down harder. 

For a moment he feels vindicated to finally see proof this leech is just like any other, the kind doctor just a mask. Then he remembers he’s done far worse than a crossbow bolt to the shoulder to Reid, and watched Reid turn his back to him and walk away. Something more than usual is wrong with Reid. 

A distant street lantern flickers and for a few moments Reid’s eyes have a yellow shine, exactly like the eyes of a beast. 

Geoffrey tries not to let fear take over as he tries to breathe. Reid’s face smoothes out gradually, turns back into the mask of calm it usually is, but the damned leech still doesn’t let go. He watches his own hand on Geoffrey’s neck, or more likely it’s the neck that holds his interest. All that warm blood Geoffrey’s not keen on losing. 

He tries to calm his heart, but with the leech as close as he is it’s not working all that well. The cool hand on his neck feels weird, not like any other leech ever touching him. None of them ever took so much time to contemplate how best to murder him, or whatever the hell it is that Reid is doing. 

The lack of air starts to cloud Geoffrey’s senses. His whole body feels heavy and like it’s a moment away from pins and needles. One would think that would stop him from embarrassing himself, but he can feel himself getting hard at the way Reid’s fingers are pressing bruises into his skin. He hates that Reid’s managed to do this to him, however unintentional, and he really fucking hates that a leech can do this to him at all. 

For some reason Reid still breathes even though he no longer has any reason to. His cool breaths against Geoffrey’s face are like a taunt and yet somehow make heat pool in his gut. With the air running out he can no longer focus on anything but the way Reid’s standing indecently close. Not enough to feel how Geoffrey’s inconveniently hard, but with the way Reid can see his blood, he might as well be. 

Geoffrey imagines for a moment what that would be like – what Reid’s cold body would feel like, if he were to press closer right now. He no longer has enough control over himself to hold back the full-body shiver at the image. That’s what finally snaps Reid out of trying to hypnotize his damned bloodstream, at least. 

He lets go of Geoffrey and takes a small step back. 

Geoffrey’s legs are shaky enough from the lack of air that he falls to his knees the moment his whole weight is no longer being held up by Reid. He gasps for breath and tries not to choke. His bruised throat aches like hell. 

When he has enough of a hold on himself, he looks up and realizes Reid is still much closer than he thought; close enough that anyone coming upon them would take this for a very different scene. 

“Fuck you, leech. You like putting me on my knees, don’t you?” Geoffrey growls at Reid and bites his own tongue right after the words leave his mouth. It’s too late, of course. No matter how his mind and body betray him in Reid’s presence, he’d rather feed the leech his own blood than admit to it. 

Instead of angry denial or anything of the like all Reid does is lift an eyebrow. His fingers touch Geoffrey’s hair and trail down the side of his face slowly. Geoffrey gets a strong urge to turn his head and bite as hard as he can; it’s only the fear of getting leech blood in his mouth that stops him. 

The whole thing is a repetition of the end of their fight, except everything about it is off. 

Reid slides his fingers lower and brushes the hand shaped bruise forming on Geoffrey’s neck. Then he presses down slowly and Geoffrey can’t stop a groan from escaping. He really hates Reid and the way he tilts his head curiously like this is some experiment to him. Only the hungry look in his eyes betrays that he’s not at all above this. 

“That is… very likely, yes,” Reid says slowly. It takes Geoffrey a while to remember what it was he asked. When he does, he flushes half in anger and half something else. 

Reid’s head snaps to the side and he stares into the darkness for a few long moments. His fingers still linger on Geoffrey’s neck caressing his skin absently. 

“I must be on my way,” Reid says, contrite, like this is some polite conversation he’s excusing himself from. “Do have a… pleasant evening.” He looks distracted, like his mind is miles away. Moments later he disappears in the same swirl of black smoke he first appeared in. 

By the time Geoffrey gets up, he too can hear a Priwen patrol approaching. He gathers up his weapons and barely resists the urge to storm over to wherever Reid is holed up and put a few more bolts into the bastard for good measure. 

He hates that he has no idea if he’d be doing it for the pleasure of hurting Reid or for the way their fights seem destined to end with him on his knees. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Gammarad for betaing this!


End file.
